Despite multiple opportunities, the Golden State Warriors have yet to register a three-game win streak during the 2020-21 season. After fighting back from a 17 point lead on Wednesday night in Orlando, the Warriors looked on their way to securing the elusive three-game win streak.
However, as the Orlando Magic charged back into the game late, Golden State’s offense went cold in the fourth quarter. Following a pair of ugly turnovers paired with 3-pointers from Chuma Okeke and Terrance Ross, the Warriors spoiled their lead to fall behind against Orlando by seven points with a minute remaining.
Although Steph Curry was able to cut into Orlando’s advantage with back-to-back heroic triples, the two-time Most Valuable Player missed the game-tying shot with 3.5 seconds remaining to seal a 13 point Orlando comeback, 124-120.
The Warriors will have the opportunity to move past their deflating loss in Orlando with the second leg of a back-to-back on Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets.
Second and third quarter streaks
After falling behind by as many as 15 points in the first quarter, the Golden State Warriors went on a run to start the second quarter only trailing by three points. However, the Warriors failed to capitalize on the comeback.
Following a back and forth, Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier led the Magic to a 13 point advantage heading into halftime. Vucevic and Fournier combined to outscore Golden State’s entire squad with 19 points in the second quarter. While Orlando got hot, Golden State went ice cold, shooting 7-of-21 from the field in the second period.
After a rough 12 minutes before halftime, the third quarter was a completely different story. Despite Orlando stretching their lead to 17 points to start the quarter, the Warriors flipped the switch.
With Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr. each scoring in double figures, the Warriors registered their highest-scoring quarter of the season with 43 points in the third. With a 3-pointer from Draymond Green to end the quarter, the Warriors stole the lead back from Orlando, 94-93 heading into the contest’s final period at Amway Center.
Orlando’s duo
Helping lead Orlando, Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier lit the Warriors up for a combined 58 points. While Fournier tallied 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting, Vucevic recorded a monster triple-double effort. The USC product notched a game-high 30 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field with 16 boards and 10 assists in 39 minutes.
Kelly Oubre Jr.
After a noted slow start to the season, Kelly Oubre Jr. has strung together an impressive run of games in February. Against Orlando, Oubre Jr. continued his steady streak. The Golden State wing totaled 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field with seven boards, four steals and an assist in 37 minutes. Oubre Jr. has found a rhythm with his jumper, hitting three triples on six attempts against the Magic.
To get even on the road trip in Charlotte, the Warriors will need to lean on Oubre Jr. as a productive scoring compliment to Steph Curry.
[lawrence-related id=34974,34962,34948,34924]